Tonight’s song is a list of unlucky things: rain on your wedding day, a free ride when you’ve already paid. And after each one, the singer asks: isn’t it ironic?
Learn from Songs · Unit 12: Review · B1–B2
Ironic
Alanis Morissette’s famous song about bad luck, and the argument about whether it is really irony: question tags (isn’t it?), similes with It’s like…, would have thought, too late / too soon, and what irony really means, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Is it ironic?
SOPHIA
That is the famous question. Many people say most of her examples are just bad luck, not irony. Tonight we decide for ourselves.
PHILO
A song that starts an argument about a word. I like it.
Before you listen: the song
Los Angeles, 1995
Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer who was a children’s television star and teenage pop singer in Canada. In 1995, at twenty-one, she released Jagged Little Pill, written with the producer Glen Ballard. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
“Ironic” was a huge hit around the world. It was also endlessly discussed, because many of its examples are unlucky or annoying rather than ironic. Alanis Morissette later joked about it herself, and some people say the real irony is a song called “Ironic” with almost no irony in it.
In the song, she describes people who meet bad luck at the worst possible moment. Each verse ends with the same question: isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
Irony is when the opposite of what you expect happens.
Listen: the list
PHILO
Listen once. List the situations. Which ones do you think are really ironic?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🌂 Listen to the song: “Ironic” (Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, 1995), by Alanis Morissette.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Ironic”, Alanis Morissette.Read the lyrics →
What irony really is
MARCOS
Bad luck: it rains on your wedding day. Irony: it rains on the wedding of the city’s weather prophet, who promised sunshine.
SOPHIA
Situational irony = the opposite of what you expect, often with a lesson: The fire station burned down. Verbal irony = saying the opposite of what you mean: “Lovely weather!” (in a storm). Simple bad luck is not irony.
Question tags
DEMETRIA
It’s ironic, isn’t it? You don’t think so, do you? She can sing, can’t she? They went, didn’t they?
SOPHIA
Positive sentence → negative tag; negative sentence → positive tag. Use the same auxiliary: is → isn’t, can → can’t, did → didn’t. I am → aren’t I? Falling voice = I’m sure; rising = a real question.
It’s like…, too late, would have thought
PHILO
It’s like rain on your wedding day. Help came too late. Who would have thought it?
SOPHIA
It’s like + noun / -ing gives an example or comparison. too late / too soon = at the wrong time. Who would have thought…? = nobody expected it.
Sophia’s comparison: Oedipus and Haman
SOPHIA
Oedipus ran away from Corinth to escape the prophecy that he would kill his father, and on the road he killed a stranger who was his real father. Running from his fate, he ran straight into it. That is irony.
PHILO
And in the scroll of Esther, Haman built a tall gallows for Mordecai, and he was hanged on it himself. And the king made him lead Mordecai through the city in honour. The book is full of irony.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| situational irony | the opposite of what you expect | The fire station burned down. |
| verbal irony | saying the opposite of what you mean | “Lovely weather!” (in a storm) |
| question tags | positive → negative, negative → positive | It’s ironic, isn’t it? |
| It’s like… | examples, comparisons | It’s like rain on your wedding day. |
| too late / Who would have thought…? | wrong time / unexpected | Who would have thought it? |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What question does she ask after each verse?
2. What kind of situations does she describe?
3. What do many people say about her examples?
4. Which album is it on?
5. Who wrote it with her?
6. Where is Alanis Morissette from?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. It’s ironic, it?
8. You don’t agree, you?
9. She can sing, she?
10. They left early, they?
11. Help arrived too .
12. Who would have it? (think)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “It’s ironic, doesn’t it?”
14. “I’m right, aren’t I?”
15. “The fire station burned down: that’s ironic.”
16. “You can swim, can you?” (expecting yes)
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Irony or bad luck? In groups, decide for each verse of the song: irony, bad luck, or just annoying? Then invent three truly ironic situations.
Discuss. 1. Does it matter if the song uses the word wrongly? 2. Have you ever experienced real irony? 3. Why do people enjoy ironic stories?
Write (120–150 words). A truly ironic day. Write a short story with a real ironic twist at the end. Use at least three question tags in the dialogue.
Now play the gamebook: a weather prophet in the rain.Play the gamebook →